David Garcia has struggled to cut through the barrage of campaign ads and message this year. He has wasted lots of time talking about how smart and educated his is and lots of time criticizing the Republican nominee. Finally, he turned to an Obama operative to bail him out.

Trevor should have disclosed his vast political involvement in his letter attacking Douglas. But he didn’t and Garcia was only too willing to link to his bias letter to the editor.

Diane Douglas, candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, released an endorsement list containing some of the most conservative members of the legislature. Her endorsements also includes former legislators who served with and know John Huppenthal. This is significant because they worked with Huppenthal and yet they are endorsing Douglas.

In a desperate bid to cling to power, John Huppenthal is now just making stuff up about his primary opponent Diane Douglas. Diane has been, is and always will be opposed to Common Core. Huppenthal is falsely claiming she supported Common Core. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is not the first time Huppenthal has struggled with telling the truth. Hopefully it will be the last time he does so as an elected official.

Here is Douglas’ statement from yesterday.

“My primary challenger recently sent out a mailer that is a complete fabrication. His claims about my positions on the issues are completely false!

I cannot stop Mr. Huppenthal from lying about his record but I will not allow him to distort my record.

I have never supported Common Core and I never voted for it when I served on the Peoria School Board.

I have never supported, endorsed, or donated to any Democrat candidate.

I have always been an outspoken and ardent support of parents’ right to choose the best education for their children including district, charter, private, and home schooling. Parents must be actively involved in deciding what is best for their children.

Mr. Huppenthal has been in government for 30 years. He may feel it is acceptable to lie and distort the truth but I do not. I am asking for your vote so I can restore honesty and decency back to the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.”

Earlier today Andy Tobin held a high-end fundraiser in Paradise Valley for his campaign to represent Arizona’s Congressional District 1. The seat is currently represented by Ann Kirkpatrick.

The event featured the most recent Republican nominee for president, Mitt Romney. The Tobin campaign had already announced their endorsement from Jon Kyl but the invite for today’s lunch added Jeff Flake and John McCain as “Honorary Chairs” of Tobin’s campaign.

The recent addition of Flake and McCain can mean only one thing – Andy Tobin has cut a deal to support Amnesty once he gets to Washington. Those two senators would not have settled for anything less and they both are vocal proponents for lax enforcement of immigration laws. Voter of District 1 should take note.

This news follows Tobin’s public call for “legal status” for those not legally in the U.S. He added, “We’re not going to be sending all these people home”. Clearly not if he and McCain and Flake get their way. No wonder some have taken to calling him Amnesty Andy.

U.S. House Speaker, John Boehner, will be in Arizona on Saturday, March 29th for a fundraising lunch to support CD 2 candidate Martha McSally and CD 1 candidate Andy Tobin. The invitation says Marana but for a $500 lunch, they might as well just have disclosed that it will be at The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain (only $1,500 if you want to join the photo line).

Boehner’s support for McSally is not a surprise. She came within less than 2,500 votes of beating the Democratic incumbent currently holding the seat and her fundraising has been very strong this cycle. She is well positioned to beat that same incumbent, even in a standard mid-term election. And this year is shaping up to be more Republican friendly than normal. McSally does have two or three (depending on what day of the week it is) challengers in the primary, but none of them seems to have made a breakout that could reasonably threaten her near lock on the nomination.

None of the candidates running against McSally are really trying to get very far to the right of her, a la Jesse Kelly, so the fact that she is seen with the increasingly squishy Boehner will not significantly hurt her chances of securing the nomination.

The situation is quite different in the adjacent District 1. Andy Tobin faces two viable alternatives that may either have more money or are noticeably to the right of Tobin, Gary Kiehne and Adam Kwasman respectively. And they both actually live in District 1, unlike Tobin who resides outside the boundaries of AZ-01.

Kiehne is already on the air with a respectable introductory radio ad. His willingness to spend money is evidenced by his renewal of the original ad purchase. He is conservative enough to make him a viable GOP candidate and would normally attract the support of Boehner and the NRCC; a successful businessman willing to pony of some of his own cash in order to be first across the finish line. (Actually, an NRCC dream date.)

Adam Kwasman is the kind of principled conservative that gives the NRCC night sweats so it is no surprise that the NRCC and Boehner would openly support his opponent in the primary. The Washington establishment knows they cannot control Kwasman like they can Tobin, so they go all in for the more flexible Tobin.

The problem with Boehner’s gambit is that it could easily backfire. It will only reinforce Kiehne’s contention that the system is rigged and you need an outside like him who will answer to the people in the district, not leadership in Washington. Kwasman can link the amnesty leaning, budget busting record of Boehner to Tobin in an effort to further motivate the conservative base that already seems to be leaning toward Kwasman.

Two words sum of the risk Boehner is taking by openly favoring Tobin in the primary – “Raul Labrador”. In his 2010 primary, Labrador dispatched the NRCC anointed candidate and then went on to win the general election. The NRCC now has a 2/3 chance that the AZ-01 nominee and possible congressman will not look kindly on their requests to fall in line and support Boehner’s agenda of capitulation and compromise.

Legislative District 11 candidate Dave Joseph is under investigation for violating the Arizona Clean Elections Commission rules that apply when you take campaign funds from the state. A weekend article from the Arizona Republic details the two violations that he committed, according to a complaint filed by a resident of Pinal County. The violations being investigated are so serious even the local public radio station in Tucson took note in this news report.

This case is just one more example of what is wrong with the Clean Elections system. Candidates get free money and often times bend or break the rules when using these state funds. The system also artificially inflates the amount of money being spent on campaigns and drives up the cost of running for office. The liberals always whine about more money for education but they too often seem willing to accept campaign welfare when the money could be better used to fund education in Arizona.

Citizens United Political Victory Fund has entered the Special Election for the vacant Congressional seat in Arizona’s Eighth district. The ad points out that Obamacare contains significant cuts to Medicare and that Jesse Kelly supports the full repeal of Obamacare.

The Democrat, Ron Barber, has been trying to attack Kelly on the Medicare and Social Security issue. After seeing this new ad from Citizens United, Barber may be sorry he brought up the topic.

It is sad to read that another Phoenix Police Officer, Shane Figueroa, has died because of an illegal alien. Our hearts and prayers go out to his widow their young child.

The Arizona Republic covered the news but was unable to mention the fact that the suspect is an illegal alien with several prior arrests for DUI. KTAR and the Arizona Daily Star are willing to include the regrettable story behind officer Figueroa’s preventable death.

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